American IPA Stone Ruination Clone

So I took my 6 weeks old (young ?) Ruination to our local home brew club and everyone was really HOPPY!

Actually I got quite a few comments on how hoppy it actually was while being tremendously smooth!

I said it all about the nose on this one!

I knew it would come out good but this is the most hoppy IPA I have tried and I am addicted to it. Cant have enough of it (and I really dont!).

IPAs dont have to punch you in the face with hop bitterness but if they do make sure they lure you close with their fresh hop aroma

Happy brewing to all you great homebrewers and if you do make this one, I promise you you simply wont be disappointed.-

Transferred mine to the 2ndary on Saturday. FG measured at 1.013 with an OG of 1.073 using WP001. As is normal, I didn't want to waste the gravity sample and I'm hoping to hear some similar stories. The taste was very "light" except for the hops. Also was very yeasty tasting. I'm writing that off to coming right off the primary yeast. Anyway, I've 2oz of centennial pellets "floating" in it now. First shot at dry hopping for me and I'm definitely brainstorming for better methods. Used a nylon strainer bag and about 10 glass marbles. You know what the bouyancy of 2oz of hop pellets and a nylon strainer bag is? Just a little more than 10 glass marbles! And I'm not looking forward to the effort getting that bag out of the carboy either!

So, if any of you guys tasted and recall your experiences right of the primary, chime in. Hoping for some encouraging responses.

Guidry said:

Transferred mine to the 2ndary on Saturday. FG measured at 1.013 with an OG of 1.073 using WP001. As is normal, I didn't want to waste the gravity sample and I'm hoping to hear some similar stories. The taste was very "light" except for the hops. Also was very yeasty tasting. I'm writing that off to coming right off the primary yeast. Anyway, I've 2oz of centennial pellets "floating" in it now. First shot at dry hopping for me and I'm definitely brainstorming for better methods. Used a nylon strainer bag and about 10 glass marbles. You know what the bouyancy of 2oz of hop pellets and a nylon strainer bag is? Just a little more than 10 glass marbles! And I'm not looking forward to the effort getting that bag out of the carboy either!

So, if any of you guys tasted and recall your experiences right of the primary, chime in. Hoping for some encouraging responses.

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Great timing. Just drank my gravity sample from primary that I brewed April 21. Going to add the dry hop very soon.

My SG was also 1.013 (wlp007). The taste is very very smooth almost too smooth as you point out. I think that smoothness makes it a great platform for the dry hopping. Mine didn't taste yeasty at all, they dropped out some time ago. IBUs are calculated at 112 for this batch it's hard to wrap my head around why it's so damn drinkable out of the primary!

For the hops I just chuck 'em in!

I made this exactly as per the OP. Really impressed with how it turned out!

Brewed this up a couple of weeks ago. Racked to secondary last weekend after 2 weeks in primary. Gravity was 1.01, so the yeast starter I had really went to town. Dry hopping now a week then will keg and carb up for a week before serving. Fermentation on this smelt unreal, I almost wanted to jump in my chest freezer where I was storing it.

Is it worth waiting longer than 3 weeks to bottle this? Mine will hit the 2 week mark this Sunday, I plan on dry-hopping and then bottling the next weekend.

I noticed it was very dark in the carboy at first, now it's gotten much more light in color. Did anyone else experience this? Maybe it was just all the crap in suspension.

I've never gone more than three weeks in a fermenter, so I would say that's perfect!

Logzor said:

Is it worth waiting longer than 3 weeks to bottle this? Mine will hit the 2 week mark this Sunday, I plan on dry-hopping and then bottling the next weekend.

I noticed it was very dark in the carboy at first, now it's gotten much more light in color. Did anyone else experience this? Maybe it was just all the crap in suspension.

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Go for it!

As for the color, it is always darker in the carboy.

Happy brewing and keep us posted.

Logzor said:

Is it worth waiting longer than 3 weeks to bottle this? Mine will hit the 2 week mark this Sunday, I plan on dry-hopping and then bottling the next weekend.

I noticed it was very dark in the carboy at first, now it's gotten much more light in color. Did anyone else experience this? Maybe it was just all the crap in suspension.

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I just kegged (1st keg) this 3 days ago, you'll be surprised at just how light in color this is, and the hydro sample tasted great. Though it made me wish I had a way to cold crash it. My 2 cents (and I'm brand new to this), for what it is worth. Now I just have to be disciplined and leave it the heck alone for awhile. I did 16 days in primary, 6 days dry hop in secondary on (my last?) extract batch.

Thank you so much for this simple yet wonderful recipe. I made the extract version. Just three weeks of fermentation in a water bath with dry hopping for last seven then two weeks bottle conditioning and what a brew! This is only my 4th batch and could not be happier with the results. My friends can't believe I could brew something this good. Here's the particulars if anyone is interested:

Ingredients:
* Batch size 5 gallons
* Culligan RO Water from Meijer (29 cents gallon - worth it to avoid problems I've had with tap water)
* Full boil using 8 gallon kettle with good propane burner
* 1 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt steeped in 1 gal at 155 for 30 minutes
* 9 lbs Briess Golden Light DME - 5 lbs at beginning and 4 lbs with 15 minutes left (not sure if this made any difference)
* 1.75 oz Magnum for 60 minutes
* 3 oz Centennial with 1 oz at 30, 10, 1 minutes
* Wyeast 1056 with 1.5L starter using stir plate
* 60 sec of oxygen using home made wand and Northern Brewer Oxygen Kit
* OG=1.084
* 9 days in primary in Michigan basement at 65F water bath. Used blow-off tube for first 3 days as fermentation was very robust (air lock would have blown for sure).
* 12 days in secondary in water bath at 67F.
* Dry hopped with 2 oz Centennial for last 7 days in secondary.
* Bottle conditioned for 2 weeks at about 70F.
* FG=1.012
* Taste=fantastic. Even better after 3 weeks bottle conditioning.

Brewed my batch up on Big Brew day and after a little incident with my keg over the past week, I finally had my first good pint last night. WOW! I have dubbed mine "Ruinedation" however since it really isn't a true clone attempt (although it is damn good). I mentioned earlier here that my LHBS guy convinced me to go with a pound of Crystal 80 instead of the 20L as the recipe calls for. What I got is an almost exact color match of the bottle I poured next to it last night. The taste is something I planned on being a little different though. The recipe in the OP as well as that shown in the BYO article calls for Magnum hops. The description on Stone's website calls for Columbus. I went with Columbus thinking that was what is currently being used. The hop tastes is a little different and I am wondering now if the website is "current". Might they have gone back to Magnum now? I plan on using Magnum in my next batch of it just to see what happens.

A guy at my LBHS said he toured Stone a year of so ago. They chatted with one of the brewers, and were told that Zeus hops are used in most of Stone's brews. I've been mixing Zeus and magnum for the bittern additions and spread them out instead of just at 60. Hop profile tastes pretty good.

letmeholleratya said:

A guy at my LBHS said he toured Stone a year of so ago. They chatted with one of the brewers, and were told that Zeus hops are used in most of Stone's brews. I've been mixing Zeus and magnum for the bittern additions and spread them out instead of just at 60. Hop profile tastes pretty good.

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I used CTZ (Columbus/TomahawkZeus) in this for bittering per Stone's website and other clones - works great! Magnum is a bit smoother (lower cohumulone) hop, though, so i'm going that way next time, or doing FWH.

Bottled nearly 2 weeks. Awesome brew. Used 007. Spiced things up with a little carastan and honey malt, but this brew is 95% like the OP.

Another homebrewtalk hit!

Here's a side by side shot of my "clone" and the real stuff. Flavor is even closer than the colors.

Mine has been bottled for a little over a week now. Even at 6 days it was pretty carbbed up already. Is that normal? The house has been like 78 degrees so that might explain it.

Anyways it tastes awesome. Color is just about the same as the two posts above.

How much sugar did you use? What was actual volume bottled? What was the fermentation temp?

Guidry said:

How much sugar did you use? What was actual volume bottled? What was the fermentation temp?

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I used the same amount that I have on all my batches. Which I believe it 4 oz.

I bottled around 48 total bottles.

Fermentation temp was around 72-73 degrees. It probably got higher than that at some points.

Looking to brew this tomorrow. I'm not content with the hop schedule from BYO mag clone of this. Only calls for a 90min boil and the first hop addition is magnum at 60min. The next hop addition is at flame-out with centennial. I'm concerned with hop flavor since there is no 30-15min hop additions. Does anyone have a recommendations with the hop additions? Also what its the point of a 90min boil if the first hop addition is at 60?

j2bink said:

Looking to brew this tomorrow. I'm not content with the hop schedule from BYO mag clone of this. Only calls for a 90min boil and the first hop addition is magnum at 60min. The next hop addition is at flame-out with centennial. I'm concerned with hop flavor since there is no 30-15min hop additions. Does anyone have a recommendations with the hop additions? Also what its the point of a 90min boil if the first hop addition is at 60?

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I would wonder about the hops flavor too, but I've never made the BYO version so I really don't know what to tell you. I've only made this version, and I like it.

The point of a 90 minute boil would be to reduce DMS, to boil down more volume and to darken/cook the wort. But I rarely do a 90 minute boil so I don't see the need.

Its tough one. I want to follow the byo clone but nothing like second guessing the recipe and using your experiences. I'm using crystal 20, and adding Munich malt to get that noticeable malt note. Does anyone know what the approx IBUs? 100+ doesn't tell me enough. Thanks. What for origin of magnum do you think stone uses?

j2bink said:

Its tough one. I want to follow the byo clone but nothing like second guessing the recipe and using your experiences. I'm using crystal 20, and adding Munich malt to get that noticeable malt note. Does anyone know what the approx IBUs? 100+ doesn't tell me enough. Thanks. What for origin of magnum do you think stone uses?

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Not sure on how many IBUs to shoot for but Stone now uses Columbus instead of Magnum to bitter the vast majority of their beers.

pm5k00 said:

Not sure on how many IBUs to shoot for but Stone now uses Columbus instead of Magnum to bitter the vast majority of their beers.

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Since when? I heard that Columbus is listed on sight now as well. One other comment on this thread mentioned that he used Columbus and believes type of bittering hop was off and it could be that its magnum. Is it possible to pick up on type of bittering hops used?

Hey suggestions on bottling? I don't have the equipment to keg it or cask it so what should I prime it in the bottle it with dextrose or DME?

smallsc111 said:

Hey suggestions on bottling? I don't have the equipment to keg it or cask it so what should I prime it in the bottle it with dextrose or DME?

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I used corn sugar. It's good. 3.75oz to 4.75 gal

OK mine has been bottled a couple of weeks now. When I open the bottles they foam straight out of the bottle and onto the floor or counter. I chilled it for just a couple of hours. The house has been in the upper 70's where it's been sitting for 2 weeks.

Will this subside or will they be this foamy forever?

Taste is awesome.

The ones I opened within the first week were perfectly carbed. Used the same 4 oz of priming sugar as I do all my beers.

Just my theory I'm working on...

How long did you ferment?
What was the OG and FG?

Did you move the beer to a secondary fermentation?

Logzor said:

OK mine has been bottled a couple of weeks now. When I open the bottles they foam straight out of the bottle and onto the floor or counter. I chilled it for just a couple of hours. The house has been in the upper 70's where it's been sitting for 2 weeks.

Will this subside or will they be this foamy forever?

Taste is awesome.

The ones I opened within the first week were perfectly carbed. Used the same 4 oz of priming sugar as I do all my beers.

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It will be that foamy forever. If anything, it will get worse. At least in my experience with over-carrbed beer. You should try out something like iBrew Master for smart phones to get sugar volumes. Different styles require different amounts of sugar.

Moody_Copperpot said:

It will be that foamy forever. If anything, it will get worse. At least in my experience with over-carrbed beer. You should try out something like iBrew Master for smart phones to get sugar volumes. Different styles require different amounts of sugar.

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Well good news. I think the foaming was just a temperature issue. The house had been super-warm while we were out of town. Since the beer was in the house it was also quite warm.

I only had it in the fridge for a few hours.

I've had a few more since, all of which spent at least 24 hours in the fridge. None have foamed up at all.

Moody_Copperpot said:

It will be that foamy forever. If anything, it will get worse. At least in my experience with over-carrbed beer. You should try out something like iBrew Master for smart phones to get sugar volumes. Different styles require different amounts of sugar.

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Additionally, there is a good article on the BYO website discussing carbonating, specifically bottling. It talks about residual carbonation from fermentation as well as the various levels typical to different styles. I always believe it is best to understand the process used rather than simply ONLY relying on a computer to tell you what to do.

Logzor said:

OK mine has been bottled a couple of weeks now. When I open the bottles they foam straight out of the bottle and onto the floor or counter. I chilled it for just a couple of hours. The house has been in the upper 70's where it's been sitting for 2 weeks.

Will this subside or will they be this foamy forever?

Taste is awesome.

The ones I opened within the first week were perfectly carbed. Used the same 4 oz of priming sugar as I do all my beers.

Click to expand...

Logzor said:

Well good news. I think the foaming was just a temperature issue. The house had been super-warm while we were out of town. Since the beer was in the house it was also quite warm.

I only had it in the fridge for a few hours.

I've had a few more since, all of which spent at least 24 hours in the fridge. None have foamed up at all.

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Yep, you fixed it yourself. The key there was only being in the fridge a few hours with a young beer.

It's weird, but with a young newly-carbed beer, there is a ton of co2 in the headspace. Chilling the beer allows this co2 to dissolve into the beer better, as a cold liquid absorbs co2 better. So keeping in the fridge two days instead of two hours makes a big difference in a newly carbed beer.

Once the beer has been fully carbed, this process happens at room temperature as well and the co2 does dissolve into the beer. But it usually takes a few weeks at room temperature for that to completely happen.

I hope this makes sense!

Thanks Yooper! 2nd 10 gallon batch goin fast, if I werent a buckeye you might be the perfect woman!

I'm killin' this stuff, I need to brew another batch soon....

The ones I'm putting in the fridge now don't seem to be foaming up. So that's good!

Wonderful tasting beer. A added 12oz of Munich. Very pleased. Little multy underline. color is off. I used 20l and it's should be darker.

j2bink said:

Wonderful tasting beer. A added 12oz of Munich. Very pleased. Little multy underline. color is off. I used 20l and it's should be darker.

View attachment 70060

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Wow yours looks really clear, wish I could get mine to have that clarity!

Logzor said:

Wow yours looks really clear, wish I could get mine to have that clarity!

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I rack to secondary and let sit for minimum of two Weeks.

Found some centennials at my LHBS while picking up some other grains, so snatched some up. I'm brewing this up tomorrow night!

And brewed it up last night. Racked onto an S-05 yeast cake from an IPA I transferred to keg while the mash was going on. I did modify a little bit. I used some crystal 40, as I had it on hand, and added 1/2 lb melanoidin. Also added an extra ounce of centennial sprinkled in a little at a time between the 10 and 1 minute additions. It's been bubbling away steadily since about 15 minutes after I put the top on it. Swamp cooler holding steady at around 62-65 degrees.

This beer spawned my best beer yet which was loosely based on this only using what I had on hand.

I don't have the necessary equipment for a yeast starter yet so I usually stick with the wyeast smack packs. With this beer have an OG of 1.07+ would I be better off using 2 packs for a 5 gallon extract batch?